How does Santa know how to find military kids?

Not long after the last moving box is unpacked, or soon after the Thanksgiving wreath is put away, military kids start to wonder how Santa Claus will find them in their new house.

Like magic, Santa will find military kids every single time, whether they are living in quarters on base, staying in temporary lodging, or just visiting Grandma’s house. But, even though Santa does a great job of keeping track of who’s naughty or nice, he still appreciates a heads up if your situation has changed!

First, get on his good side:

If you send Santa a letter each year, in addition to listing the toys you might like, be sure to mention how incredibly well behaved you were during your last PCS move or deployment or just doing every day military kid stuff! This alerts the elves in the mailroom to mark your letter for the Military Kid Division of Santa’s Workshop.

Then, give him your new address:

Tell Santa if you’ve moved and where to find you. And if you’re planning to spend the holidays at a relative’s house or in temporary lodging, be sure to mention that to Santa too!

Santa has multiple addresses where he can be reached. Kids can send letters to Alaska, Indiana, the North Pole. They all reach Santa. This is one address you can use:

Santa Claus PO Box 1 Santa Claus, IN 47579

If you want a letter back from Santa, be sure to include a legible return address. Every letter Santa receives by December 21, 2015 will receive a letter back from the big man in red. The earlier you can send in your letter, the better.

Finally, put out the reindeer food:

Like lots of military parents who work on aircraft carriers or at airfields to guide in airplanes, you can help Santa land safely, too!

Just sprinkle “reindeer food” on your front lawn or porch and it will help Santa’s Squad navigate to your house while you are fast asleep.

Recipe: ½ cup whole oats, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tsp glitter

This provides extra insurance that he’ll find his way to your house, but also it will help to keep the reindeer happy so they can continue on to the next bunch of kids!

Too busy?

But, hey, let’s face it. Mom and dad might be tied up with all of that parent stuff. Or maybe you’re living with relatives during a deployment and don’t want to bother them. Well, no worries. Santa is a pretty understanding guy so he puts some of his smartest elves on the task of keeping track of our military kids and their concerns. He WILL find you. In fact, those elves and Santa have all your worries covered:

No chimney? No problem!

Lots of military kids live in housing on base, and most of these homes do not have chimneys. That’s okay! Many kids (even civilian ones) live in town homes or apartments or houses that don’t have a chimney.

Legend has it that Santa has a magical key that allows him to put presents under the tree on Christmas Eve and Christmas. So no worries! Santa knows how to deal with those chimney-less places that military kids live. We don’t know if it is a key or magic or both, but the big guy knows how to get you your gifts.

No ID required

Do you live in base housing and wonder how Santa Claus will get past the security at the gate? No problem! While we haven’t seen it, we are pretty sure Santa has his own special military ID card with top secret clearance.

Besides, the military has been helping Santa Claus for decades! Since 1955, Colorado Springs’ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) which is now NORAD (yes, they are part of our military family!), has been monitoring Santa’s Christmas Eve movements.

You can even check out Santa’s progress around the world so you know exactly when it’s time to hop into bed… and you can bet the guards at the gate will be tracking Santa, too! The tracker can be found at: www.noradsanta.org.

Special things military kids can do to get on Santa’s “NICE” list:

* Make cookies and take them to the gate guards on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. * Help serve a holiday dinner to service members who can’t make it home for the holidays. * Help with Wreaths Across America to help honor fallen service members in a special way during the holiday season. * Save up money to give to a military charity that serves different parts of our community that have special needs during the holiday season. * Make holiday decorations for the barracks or welcome center to make them more festive.